Process for treating petroleum emulsions



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* This invention relates to the treatment .of-

emulsions off-mineral oil and water, such as petroleum emulsions, for the purpose of seps arating the oil from thewater.

- Petroleum emulsions are of the water-in- -cil type and comprise fine droplets 'of natu-- ral occurring wat'ersor brines dispersed in fa more orless permanent state throughout the oil, which constitutes the continuous phase'of the emulsion. They are obtained from producing wells" and from. the bottom.

ofaoil storagetanks, and are commonly referred to as cut oil, roily oil, emulsified oil and bottom settlings. v

The object of my present invention is to provide a novel and inexpensive process for separating emulsions of .the character referred to into theirconiponent parts of oil and water or brine. Briefly described, my, process consists in subjecting a petroleum emulsion'to theaction .of a non saponaceous .non-saponifiable material derived from a fat or fatty 7 material which acts on theemulsion in such.

a manner that the emulsion will break and separate into its component arts of oil and'w'ater orlorine'when the emu sion is permitted to remain in a quiescent state after treatment. The non-saponifiable materials I prefer to use are various kinds of non- -saponifiable fatty derivatives, such as lactones, lacti es, inner-anhydrides, polyacids, polymers, condensation products, dehydration product's, etc. Such materials'can be ob-v tained from oleic acid, castor oil or any fatty or soap-forming material, and are character ized by the fact that they bear a 'simple genetic relationship to the parent material from which they were derived. In general the method. of manufacturing such materials is .to subject an unsaturated fatty acid to the action of a sulphonating agent such as sul-' phuric acid in an amount; exceeding the theoretical quantity and permitting the acidmass to stand for a relatively long period such as thirty to "sixty days. Although,

such materials maybe obtained from soapfor'ming' materials, they cannot be saponi-- had by the usual process of soap making. Hence, theydifier from the fatty. acids and modified fatty acidsflow used extensively totreat petroleum emulsions, in that they are non-saponifiable, they have no acid value, they do notreact with dilute alkali and they do not. react with the alkaline Application filed r l 6, 192-5.. sexi r no, 21,20

earths present petroleum emulsions. They can be decomposedby the action. of'

alcoholic potashjbutthe result of this dc composition is; a soap of a 'fatt" acidand not the soap of the non-saponi able mate- .rial. For example, the action of alcoholic.

they can be separated from the non-saponifiable 'material which is neither lactone nor tones and lactides, is found to have excellent treatingivalue in breaking water in-oil emul-' sions. 1 i

"lln practicing my, process the treating agent consisting of a .non-saponaceous nonsaponlfiable, fatty derivative is brought into-- emulsion is stored, or introducing said treat.

ing agent into a container that. holds a sludge obtained'from the bottom of an oil storage tank.

It can even ing well in such a waythat itflwill become mixed with water or oil that is emerging from the ggound'before said water and oil enter the arrel of; the well pump or the tubing up through which said water and oil flow to the surface of the ground. After treatment the emulsion .is allowed to stand in so as to permit the water or brine tosepa:

lactide. This material, thus freed from .lac-

be introduced into a'produo a quiescent state at a suitable temperature 1 rate from the oil, or it may be passed-through a variety of apparatus, such as hay tanks, gun barrels,'and so forth, such as are now commonly used in the operation of breaking petroleum emulsions. It may even be 'passedthrough a centrifugal or an electrical dehydrator. It is immaterial whether the non-'saponaceous' non-saponifiable material is used inthe form of a solution or suspension,

or is introduced into or mixed withthe emulsion without dilution. In practicing my process commercially I prefer to use the treating agent in the form of a water insoluble combination, such as a mixture of stearolactone and liquid anhydrides produced from 'oleic acid. In so far as this material is substantially insoluble in water and may even be insoluble in oil, I prefer to mix it with a solubilizing agent, namely, with a substance that will give a dispersion of "the non-saponifiable material in either water or oil, as the case may be but which does not act as a true solvent, and hence, does not produce ionic or molecular dispersion. The solubilizing agent could consist of ammonium oleate, calcium oleate, saponin, etc., and it need only be mixed with the nonsaponifiable material. The amount of solubilizing agent used will be the minimum amount necessary to give a suitable dispersion of the non-saponifiable material. The quantity of treating agent that will be required to break the emulsion will depend upon the character and age of the emulsion and will vary from barrel of treating agent ters Patent is a l. A process for recovering the oil of a petroleum emulsion, characterized by subjecting the emulsion to the action of a nonsaponaceous non-saponifiable, fatty derivative which bears a simple genetic relationship to its parent material.

2. A process for efiecting the recovery of the oil of a petroleum emulsion, characterized by subjecting the emulsion to the action of a treating agent composed of a non-saponaceous non-saponifiable, fatty derivative which bears a simple genetic relationship to its parent material, mixed with a solubilizing agent of the kind defined.

3; In the treatment of petroleum emulsions the etc of subjecting the emulsion to the action 0 a treating agent composed of a lactone.

MELVIN DE GROOTE. 

